1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for disposing of enameled wire scraps. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method for disposing of enameled wire scraps without causing environmental pollution such as air pollution and chemical pollution.
2. Description of the Related Art
An enameled wire is an insulating wire obtained by repeating a process in which a heat-dried type paint is applied onto the surface of a wire formed of copper or aluminum, and then baked. The scraps of the enameled wire are compression-molded into a compressed block of an appropriate size. The block is melted in a furnace as it is, thereby removing the enamel covering recovering the metal.
However, when the scrap block is heated to melt without prior treatment, the enamel covering generates a waste gas by heating to cause the air pollution. Even when the scrap block is heated at relatively low temperature to bake off the enamel covering alone, prior to melting in the furnace, the waste gas generated from the enamel covering does not decrease. Therefore, in order to remove the enamel covering from the wire scraps by use of a furnace or an incinerator, a dust collector is required to remove a good deal of the waste gas. This, increases the cost of recovering the metal since the dust collector is expensive.
There is another way to remove the enamel covering by dipping enameled wire scraps in a chemical agent to dissolve the enamel covering. However, this method may give rise to air pollution due to vaporization of the chemical agent. Further, this method has a drawback. Only a small amount of enameled wire scraps can be treated before the chemical agent's activity deteriorates. Furthermore, the chemical agent is expensive raising cost of recovering the metal.